Improvement in leaf-tobacco-stem rolls



J: L. WEATHERHEAD- I LEAF-TOBACCO STEM-ROLL...

Patented Feb. 8.1876.

-N.PETERS. FHOTO UYNDGRAFNER. WASHINGTON. D, c-

UNITED STATES JAMES L. WEATHERHEAD, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENN SYLYANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN LEAF-TOBACCO-STEM ROLLS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. [73,146, dated February 8, 1876; application filed.

October 25, 1875.

reference being had to the accompanying drawings making part hereof.

My invention consists of the combination, with the rolls of a machine for rolling out leaf- 7 tobacco stems, of two saturated cushions, the

upper one of which is arranged above the upper roll, and the lower one in a trough beneath the lower roll, each being adjusted by a thumb-screw, all constructed and arranged with respect to each other, substantially as and for the purpose hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will describe its construction and mode of operation.

In the drawings, Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section of my machine; Fig. 2, a vertical cross-section of the same on line ag of Fig. 1.

A A are the upper and lower rolls B B,upper and lower s ion 'e-boxes- O G u )er and lower thumb-screws for adjusting boxes B B. D D are screws to adjust the rolls 5 E E, journalboxes; F, cog or gear-wheels to impart motionfrom one roll to another, secured rigidly to the shafts of the rolls, and gearing into each other. G are strippers. H H are rubber cushions between the ends of the strippers G and the frame of the machine. 11 are adjusting-screws, to regulate the nearness of the edges of the strippers to the rolls. K K are clasp-bearing boxes, which lap over. the sides of and hold the boxes B B inplace laterally 'while the thumb-screws 0 press the boxes against the rolls. L are holes to saturate the upper sponge.

The rolls are kept damp by saturating the sponges, the upper one of which is wet by pouring water through the holes L-th'e lower one by nearly or quite filling the lower box with water. These sponges fill the two boxes B B, and, by being pressed against the rolls, keep the latter damp. This is necessary to prevent the thin leaf-tobacco from sticking.

The object of the invention is not only to roll the leaf-tobacco evenly out, but to roll the'main stem and diverging veins of the leaf perfectly flat, to'prepare the leaf to be worked.

Heretofore this has been done but partial- 1y. I am well' aware of the existence of rolls for this purpose, which were coated with a rubber envelope, to prevent the leaf from sticking thereto, and each provided with a single ring of metal in the center, to crush and flatten out the main stem. The circumference of these rings came in contact, and each leaf of tobacco was fed carefully to them, so that the main stem passed between these rings and was crushed, and great care was exercised that no portion of the thin leaf came in contact with the metal or crushing part of the rolls, as it would be torn the soft rubber only received the main leaf. By these means the stem only was flattened; but the rest of theleaf, with its numerous thick veins,

was not.

In my machine, this difficulty is overcome by the dampening of the rolls, which'prevents the sticking, and consequent breaking, of the leaf. The latter is thrown out by the rolls clear and free from the machine, or, if

it should stick some, it is released by strippers G G, the whole edge of which touches the adjoining roll. I use castiron, steel, brass, wood, or iron case-hardened plain rolls. By my invention the whole leaf, after being subjected to the action of the rolls, comes out perfectly flat, all its inequalities rolled down to one'plane surface; so that it can be worked into cigars and plug tobacco Without necessitating the stripping of the stems and veins from it. It requires no great care in inserting the leaf between the rolls, as the whole surface of the leaf is to be acted upon. Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination, with the rolls of a machine for rolling out leaf-tobacco stems, of two saturated cushions, the upper one of which is arranged above the upper roll, and the lower one in a trough beneath the lower roll, each being adjusted by a thumb-screw, all constructed and arranged with respect to each other, substantially as and for the pur- GEORGE E. BUCKLEY, JACOB S. DUVALL.

PATENT OFFICE. 

